President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday declared that his administration remains resilient in the face of new U.S. trade policies introduced by President Donald Trump, including tariffs targeting Nigerian exports.
Speaking at the Presidential Villa in Abuja during a solidarity visit by members of The Buhari Organisation led by former Nasarawa State Governor, Senator Tanko Al-Makura, Tinubu said Nigeria’s growing non-oil revenues and strengthened economic fundamentals provide a buffer against external shocks.
“If non-oil revenue is growing, then we have no fear of whatever Trump is doing on the other side,” Tinubu said.
The President noted that Nigeria had already surpassed its 2025 revenue targets by August and highlighted the naira’s recovery, appreciating to around N1,450 per dollar from N1,900 after his administration unified exchange rates in May 2023.
Trump’s second-term trade policy, unveiled on April 2, 2025, introduced a 10 per cent baseline tariff on nearly all imports, alongside additional country-specific levies of up to 50 per cent. Nigeria now faces a 15 per cent tariff on its exports, effective August 7, although oil and gas have been exempted.
Tinubu also pointed to progress in agriculture reforms, citing a nationwide mechanisation drive as part of efforts to boost food security. “If we remove hunger, we have defeated poverty,” he said.
The meeting also touched on internal party history. Tinubu recalled early disagreements with the late President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2013 merger talks that birthed the All Progressives Congress (APC). He revealed they clashed over the party’s logo, with Buhari pushing for a parliament symbol and Tinubu insisting on the broom.
“He’s so stubborn,” Tinubu joked, drawing laughter from attendees, which included Katsina State Governor Dikko Radda and former Governor Aminu Masari.
The APC, formed through the merger of four opposition parties in 2013, went on to unseat the long-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, bringing Buhari to power.
